West German Patent Specification No. DE-PS 32,25,078 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,607,585) discloses an electronically controlled sewing machine which has a random access memory (RAM), in which various access data of individual patterns stored in a read-only memory (ROM) of the sewing machine can be stored in different sequences in order to enable these sewing patterns to be sewn in this sequence. Using this sewing machine, it is possible to carry out a sewing process in which one or several forward or reverse stitches, which are also available in the read-only memory, can be inserted between two consecutive individual sewing patterns in order to thus produce new pattern structures deviating from the existing individual sewing patterns. Only combination patterns whose width is limited essentially to the width of the largest possible format of the individual sewing pattern being stored can be produced with the prior-art sewing machine and the process described. In contrast, broader sewing pattern combinations can be achieved only by repeated parallel sewing of the combination pattern set, which not only requires a considerable effort, but also leads to a displacement of the patterns sewn next to one another due to differences in the feed characteristics of the sewing machine and inaccurate guiding by the sewing machine operator.